Elizabeth Stebbins , James R. Bence, Travis O. Brenden, Michael J. Hansen
{"title":"A hierarchical model of persistent and transient growth variation applied to Lake Superior lake trout","authors":"Elizabeth Stebbins , James R. Bence, Travis O. Brenden, Michael J. Hansen","doi":"10.1016/j.fishres.2024.107081","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Variability in individual fish growth both within and among populations can interact with mortality to affect variation in size-at-age and other critical features of populations. Herein, we developed and applied mixed-effects, hierarchical growth models to back-calculated length-at-age data from six lake trout (<em>Salvelinus namaycush</em>) populations in Lake Superior to quantify how growth variation was attributable to persistent sources within and among populations and transient (short-term and not consistent over time for an individual) sources. Persistent variation in growth among individuals explained more variability in length-at-age than transient variation, and most of this variation was within populations rather than among populations. Simulations showed that the modeling approach could robustly estimate most growth function parameters, even with mismatches between true and assumed among-population covariation, although a higher number of populations enabled better estimation of certain population-level parameters. An implicit assumption to our interpretation was that lake trout populations in Lake Superior had not experienced substantial size-selective mortality, so their length-at-age patterns largely reflected growth variation rather than size-selective mortality. This assumption should be tested when interpreting future applications of this growth modeling approach.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50443,"journal":{"name":"Fisheries Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Fisheries Research","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165783624001450","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"FISHERIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Variability in individual fish growth both within and among populations can interact with mortality to affect variation in size-at-age and other critical features of populations. Herein, we developed and applied mixed-effects, hierarchical growth models to back-calculated length-at-age data from six lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) populations in Lake Superior to quantify how growth variation was attributable to persistent sources within and among populations and transient (short-term and not consistent over time for an individual) sources. Persistent variation in growth among individuals explained more variability in length-at-age than transient variation, and most of this variation was within populations rather than among populations. Simulations showed that the modeling approach could robustly estimate most growth function parameters, even with mismatches between true and assumed among-population covariation, although a higher number of populations enabled better estimation of certain population-level parameters. An implicit assumption to our interpretation was that lake trout populations in Lake Superior had not experienced substantial size-selective mortality, so their length-at-age patterns largely reflected growth variation rather than size-selective mortality. This assumption should be tested when interpreting future applications of this growth modeling approach.
期刊介绍:
This journal provides an international forum for the publication of papers in the areas of fisheries science, fishing technology, fisheries management and relevant socio-economics. The scope covers fisheries in salt, brackish and freshwater systems, and all aspects of associated ecology, environmental aspects of fisheries, and economics. Both theoretical and practical papers are acceptable, including laboratory and field experimental studies relevant to fisheries. Papers on the conservation of exploitable living resources are welcome. Review and Viewpoint articles are also published. As the specified areas inevitably impinge on and interrelate with each other, the approach of the journal is multidisciplinary, and authors are encouraged to emphasise the relevance of their own work to that of other disciplines. The journal is intended for fisheries scientists, biological oceanographers, gear technologists, economists, managers, administrators, policy makers and legislators.